San Diego is nice if you can dodge bullets.

Edited June 16, 201610 yr by returnofthailand

Venezuela: another said case of a country being ruined by "socialist" regime.

The situation must be desperate,

More and more airlines stop servicing because of the nidicolous official exchange rate (100 times less for a USD than on the street).

Will riots break out?

Watching the latest news it appears that riots are breaking out.

Spanish is certainly a lot easier to learn than Thai and native Spanish speakers struggle less when learning English as there so many similarities. The alphabet's the same so you can usually have a decent guess of what something says. Learning to speak Thai fluently is one thing but to be able to read and write it fluently too is pretty rare for non-native speakers.

Venezuelan women share a similar culture so less of a culture clash too.

But yes Venezuela has some "issues" with crime and violence which can only get worse with current state of the economy.

Plenty of other nice countries in South America though...

Edited June 17, 201610 yr by penco

Since I am a cheap charlie Venezuela sounds like a paradise to me. I can buy anything for almost nothing there.

Where do I sign up ?

^^^^Caracas !!!

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

some reasons to live in V or not live there...

• highest inflation in the world at an estimated 700%
• highest crime rate
• highest murder rate.
• frequent power cuts
• frequent water cuts
• no access to medicine or medical procedures
• no access to staple foods without lining up for 12+ hours. Last weekend 400 people were arrested for looting a store
• locked currency
• complicated long term visas
• nearly impossible to book international flights in VEF
• closed borders with 2 of 3 neighbouring countries
• socialist laws that do not guarantee the rights of land owners.
• one of the most corrupt countries on Earth.
• certain to default on its international loans
• in debt up to their ears to China

some reasons to live in V or not live there...

• highest inflation in the world at an estimated 700%
• highest crime rate
• highest murder rate.
• frequent power cuts
• frequent water cuts
• no access to medicine or medical procedures
• no access to staple foods without lining up for 12+ hours. Last weekend 400 people were arrested for looting a store
• locked currency
• complicated long term visas
• nearly impossible to book international flights in VEF
• closed borders with 2 of 3 neighbouring countries
• socialist laws that do not guarantee the rights of land owners.
• one of the most corrupt countries on Earth.
• certain to default on its international loans
• in debt up to their ears to China

Sheesh...! And I thought Thailand was a basket case?

Note to the junta lovers. See what long-term, blind adulation for jumped up former-military dictators can get you?

Pay extra special attention to the "in debt up to their ears to China" bit.

Edited June 18, 201610 yr by NanLaew

San Diego is nice if you can dodge bullets.

lived in San Diego 30 years before retiring in Thailand. If i ever decide to leave Thailand i would return there, no question. Best year around weather in the country. And you really can ski in the morning and surf in the afternoon.

Never had to dodge a bullet or experience any crime in San Diego personally. So what do you mean?

Now where I was born and raised, in Newark,NJ well I was lucky to get out of there alive. I was well prepared for Vietnam...

Damn!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3639201/Kidnap-boss-holding-Caracas-ransom-Sinister-meet-crime-boss-running-racket-Venezuelans-poverty.html#comments

Edited June 21, 201610 yr by copa8

Venezuela is in crisis. Nice place to go for a flesh wound. But you wouldn't want to be buried there.

Damn!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3639201/Kidnap-boss-holding-Caracas-ransom-Sinister-meet-crime-boss-running-racket-Venezuelans-poverty.html#comments

Wow your link is blocked by the Thai government...

^^ and deservedly so nasty piece of shit mascarading as a newspaper puts the daily mail EXACTLY where it deserves to be right there in the gutter .

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Using a VNP ,i read the Mail and saw this ,

>>

• Kidnappings are a daily occurrence in Caracas, which has the highest murder rate in the world
• The gangs, which have members as young as 10, demand ransoms of £12,000 when average salary is £14 a month
• Families who don't pay doom their loved ones to being shot in the face and dumped in unmarked grave
• Crime boss, 23, met MailOnline at gunpoint and revealed how he carefully plots each snatch using 'network of 300' <<
• If thats even half true ,it a desperate place to have to live .

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3639201/Kidnap-boss-holding-Caracas-ransom-Sinister-meet-crime-boss-running-racket-Venezuelans-poverty.html#ixzz4CGXr5Faz
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

I heard a girl AP reporter today complain she couldn't find ingredients to bake a cake. I'm not sure what to think about this....

I just spent all my retirement on a loaf of bread, and there was mold.

i got kidnapped at noon and gave them a rolex i bought in BKK....they didn't know it was fake

i have just promised 100 women to take them to Britain, just in time for BREXIT.....

i could be more doomed.....hold on, is that an asteroid???

It is not that bad in Thailand.....the Venezuelan government is largely to blame.

Any government that relies on foreign "investors" to fund their government debt is a bunch of fools and/or crooks.

For quite a few years now the governments running Venezuela have been both fools and crooks....so now the people who elected those governments have to pay for the mistakes of their elected leaders.

I'm sorry but that is what "Capitalism" is really about.

Thailand has not gone that far yet.

"Is Venezuela the new Thailand?"

If you mean a failed state going backwards into dictatorship then yes,yes it is!

In that case Venezuela is the pioneer. Thailand is nowhere close to being as grim as that. It is funny first people want to leave their home country for any reason possible and are now looking for anywhere to abandon ship from Thailand. I go through my periods as well but sometimes I try to pull it together and wonder how much of it is just me? Almost every marginal country known to man kind has been discussed and generally dismissed as not being a viable alternative to Thailand.

The main criteria for most places is if they offer a visa that is easy to get, and if the answer is no, it may be an alternative to Thailand but not most people here. i make my fair share of snarky remarks on this forum about Thailand but when we start to wonder if Venezuela or Libya is the next alternative we should examine how lucky we actually are. There are many worse places to be.

"Is Venezuela the new Thailand?"

If you mean a failed state going backwards into dictatorship then yes,yes it is!

Venezueala , no have bar fine .

I think the question is, "Is Thailand the new Venezuela?"

I can safely ask this question because I am not currently in-country.

^^ and deservedly so nasty piece of shit mascarading as a newspaper puts the daily mail EXACTLY where it deserves to be right there in the gutter .

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

indeeed. I have a colleague who was born and raised there. We work together with and NGO from time to time. he said it is much worse now than the article describes...

I think Central America is a better bet with Costa Rica,Panama and Belize.Or even Colombia in South America they have some of the most beautiful women in the World and it's a very up-and-coming place these days despite all its previous problems.
Chile is probably the best country in South America for foreigners to settle,they call themselves the English of South America and Santiago is a beautiful city it looks like Barcelona!
They also have bars with beer taps at the table where you serve your own beer and pay afterwards!

I vote for Colombia. I think it's safer for foreigners , and friendly people.

some reasons to live in V or not live there...

• highest inflation in the world at an estimated 700%
• highest crime rate
• highest murder rate.
• frequent power cuts
• frequent water cuts
• no access to medicine or medical procedures
• no access to staple foods without lining up for 12+ hours. Last weekend 400 people were arrested for looting a store
• locked currency
• complicated long term visas
• nearly impossible to book international flights in VEF
• closed borders with 2 of 3 neighbouring countries
• socialist laws that do not guarantee the rights of land owners.
• one of the most corrupt countries on Earth.
• certain to default on its international loans
• in debt up to their ears to China

socialist laws that do not guarantee the rights of land owners.

Well, they got one thing right, then.

I think Central America is a better bet with Costa Rica,Panama and Belize.Or even Colombia in South America they have some of the most beautiful women in the World and it's a very up-and-coming place these days despite all its previous problems.

Chile is probably the best country in South America for foreigners to settle,they call themselves the English of South America and Santiago is a beautiful city it looks like Barcelona!

They also have bars with beer taps at the table where you serve your own beer and pay afterwards!

Panama is extremely popular with Americans for retiring. They make it very easy to do so from my understanding. CR is becoming expensive and if a person is finding it difficult to survive in Thailand I don't think CR is the place to look at.

I think Central America is a better bet with Costa Rica,Panama and Belize.Or even Colombia in South America they have some of the most beautiful women in the World and it's a very up-and-coming place these days despite all its previous problems.

Chile is probably the best country in South America for foreigners to settle,they call themselves the English of South America and Santiago is a beautiful city it looks like Barcelona!

They also have bars with beer taps at the table where you serve your own beer and pay afterwards!

Panama is extremely popular with Americans for retiring. They make it very easy to do so from my understanding. CR is becoming expensive and if a person is finding it difficult to survive in Thailand I don't think CR is the place to look at.

A short hop to Colombia from Panama also as CR sits in the middle of the two countries,I've really not met many ugly Colombian girls I love them!